games become critical for information age humansgame-playing is a vital educational function for any...
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Games Become Criticalfor Information Age Humans
Richard Boyd
Chief Architect, Virtual World Labs
Lockheed Martin
May 26, 2010
Mars, Inc.
A History of Gaming Innovation
“Games are... the most ancient and time honored vehicle for education. They are the original educational technology, the natural one, having received the seal of approval of natural selection. We don’t see mother lions lecturing cubs at the
chalkboard; we don’t see senior lions writing their memoirs for posterity. In light of this, the question, ‘Can games have
educational value?’ becomes absurd. It is not games but schools that are the newfangled notion, the untested fad, the
violator of tradition. Game-playing is a vital educational function for any creature capable of learning.“
~ Chris Crawford in The Art of Computer Game Design
Technological Trends
Consider…
Thrust/Weight Ratios, Jet Engines, 1937-2004
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Whittle
J79-GE-17
F100-PW-100
F135-PW-100
Sources: Public websites & databases
Consider…
Transistor Counts, Microprocessors, 1971-2007
1
10
100
1,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
100,000,000
1,000,000,000
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Jet engine performance (reference)
Source: Intel
Moore’s Law
1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000Electromechanical Relay Vacuum Tube Transistor Integrated Circuit
1900
Source: The Singularity Is Near, Ray Kurzweil
State of the Art, 1987
State of the art game environment2008
CryTek CryEngine
1987 - 2010
•23 years = 15 turns of
Moore’s Law
•Or 32,764 times more
powerful
215
Enabling Platforms
Second Life
Epic Unreal Engine 3
CryTek CryEngine
Forterra OLIVE
Microsoft ESP
Icarus MMO
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Emotive capture
State of the ArtReal-time character animation
Source: Mova Digital
Four Phases of Capture
Examples
“The (virtual worlds) programmer is a creator
of universes for which he alone is the
lawgiver. No playwright, no stage director,
no emperor, however powerful, has ever
exercised such absolute authority to arrange
a stage or a field of battle and to command
such unswervingly dutiful actors or troops”
- Joseph Weizenbaum
Microsoft and Sony reinvent the interface
The Era of Filming in Virtual Worlds
Story vs. Game
What is Training?
A Virtual World is not training
A game is not training
Multimedia is not training
Training is relevant practice with feedback
One Simple Idea
People learn best when they learn by doing
Not by listening…
Not by watching…
Not by memorizing…
…but by hands-on practice
Learning and Retention
Source: Corporate Universities, Jeanne Meister
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Lecture Demonstration Hands-On Practice
Perfect Practice Makes Perfect
90% of experimental comparisons favor simulator + aircraft training over aircraft training
alone. Why?
Lower cost / increased availability of training
More efficient use of training time
Ability to practice rare / dangerous events
Source: Hays et. al., Military Psychology
Perfect Practice Makes Perfect
By previously training for any conceivable scenario, the pilot is able to instinctively
respond optimally to any event at any time
Virtual World Sweet Spot
Learning with Games
Societal Trends
Cognitive Workers
Operate across a broader span of tasks and situations, creating new demands:
Increased complexity of work
Continuous competency development
Different ways of thinking
Cognitive overload
Source: US General Services Administration
New Users
Digital Natives
Twitch speed
Parallel processing
Graphics first
Random access
Connected
Active
Play
Payoff
Fantasy
Technology-as-friend
Digital Immigrants
Conventional speed
Linear processing
Text first
Step-by-step
Stand-alone
Passive
Work
Patience
Reality
Technology-as-foe
Source: Marc Prensky (See also Don Tapscott’s “Grown Up Digital”)
How many baby boomers have this at home?
Evolution
The Future
Inexpensive
Desktop and laptops
Games heritage
Commercial dominates
Open standards
Users create
Episodic television model
Free-form learning
Train many jobs
Fun is integral
The Past
Expensive
Dedicated hardware
High-end heritage
Defense dominates
Proprietary standards
Experts create
Feature film model
Sequential learning
Train key jobs
Fun is accidental
Proven Across Industries
The ROI for using simulations to enhance learning has been proven across a wide range of
industries
These improvements in performance are independent of the obvious gains from
reductions in travel and other classroom-related costs
The Evidence is In Serious games and virtual world training improve both effectiveness and efficiency
Roman’s Law
A recent small unit training study showed that replacing 45% of live field-based training
with game-based training resulted in…
…an improvement in passing rates from 72% to 100%
…In half the time of live training alone
…and required only 1/3 of the Field Tests.
Dr. Paul A. Roman Royal Military College of Canada
6.00
5.50
3.00
0.00
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
Time (Weeks)
72%
83%
100%
70%
75%
80%
85%
90%
95%
100%
Final Scores
Class 3 (45% Serious Games)
Class 1 (No Serious Games)
Class 2 (3% Serious Games)
Class 3 (45% Serious Games)
Class 1 (No Serious Games)
Class 2 (3% Serious Games)
Dr. Paul A. Roman
Royal Military College of Canada
BP Convenience Retail Simulation
Improved passing
rate from 40% to
100%
Training time
reduced by a third
Lower training cost
CIO Magazine
2009 Innovation
Award
BP has over 12,000
convenience retail
stations in the U.S.
Lockheed Martin CLE
ROI Examples
Crew Resource Management
Reduction of 13.6 percent in number of sorties to achieve proficiency among simulator-trained crews
Source: Nullmeyer et. al., I/ITSEC Conference Proceedings
ROI Examples
Anesthesiology Training
Reduction of 28 percent in number of days to achieve intubation proficiency among simulator-trained anesthesiology residents
Source: Abrahamson et. al., Journal of Medical Education
ROI Examples
Surgical Training
Simulator-trained residents six times less likely to make errors and nine times less likely to fail to make progress during gall bladder removal surgery
Source: Seymour et. al., Annals of Surgery
ROI Examples
Long-Haul Trucking
Improvement of 83 percent in mean time between incidents after simulator training of truck drivers
Source: Deborah Lockridge, Heavy Duty TruckingCubbie_n_Vegas
ROI Examples
Snowplow Operations
Improvement of 6.2 percent in fuel efficiency among snowplow operators after simulator training
Source: Strayer et. al., Third Int’l Driving SymposiumSqueakyMarmot
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those
who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
-Alvin Toffler
“Tell me and I will forget.
Teach me and I will remember.
Involve me and I will learn.”
- Benjamin Franklin
